My first task in the morning had been to remove one of the lights from
the mast that wasnt working even though I had re-done the connections.
The electrician took it away. After lunch I climbed back up the mast and
remounted the light and to my delight it worked. I also changed the
lightbulb on the mizzen. Good to be able to light up the ship like a
shopping mall in these waters if we need to.

The Arabian sea relented around our tiny ship to become glassy calm.
We went about our daily tasks. Cleaning and the crew doing their ever
diligent watches for any sign of pirates. Binoculars in hand, eyes
peeled for any sign of a boat.
The experience has certainly brought the crew of 16 together even
closer. Sharing experiences it seems is what keeps a lot of the
Greenpeace crew coming back.

We landed a rather large fish, a Mahi-Mahi, which I quickly cleaned
and we had fresh fish and chips for dinner. The head and body was used
for fish stock.

While staring into the glassy water over a cup of coffee I noticed that
the sea was alive with small red crabs swimming on the surface. A small
turtle bobbed by. It sure was a beautiful morning............then I
noticed we were turning the ship 90 degrees to port.
Our wake clearly giving away our change of course. We were bound for
Shalalah, Oman.
They have a port and more importantly a hospital. The captain has been
diagnosed by the ships doctor. He has appendicitis. Well known to have
killed many a sailor due to the inability to get urgent help. The pain
was evident on the captain’s expression when I stuck my head in his
cabin. Only yesterday I sat with him and had a coffee and talked for a
couple of hours about .........well, you know things that we sailors
talk about.

The pilot boat came to meet us and the Captain with the Doctor left us.
We are now 14.
We turned for sea under magnificent cliffs. A solomn quiet fell on
board. For a transit it has been anything but dull. Very strange to
disembark our Captain at sea. A man I have known since my first trip in
96. Many experiences we have shared together. Spending the night in a
Spanish prison after blockading the ROTA Naval base in Spain prior to
the most recent Iraq war, being just one of them.

We just had a phone call......Daniel is a few ounces lighter after
having his appendix removed, alot happier, due to the anesthetic, and
thanked us and wished us well.

So I will go and stare into the beauty of a full moon over calm seas and
ponder life and what awaits around the corner. For one never really knows.